Opening balance £1305
Closing balance £1478
Day's profit £175
An exemplary day, sensible trading, good entry points, not too ambitious with my targets and taking profit when invited.
I'm making good use of Fibonacci retracements along with trend lines and known areas of support and resistance.
I'm almost touching this weeks target already, I'm not getting carried away and I'm going to remain sensible, trading with a fairly low £/point.
I posted around 10 trades, each one a winner. That isn't going to happen every day but my continued discipline allied to my studious reading and hunger to educate myself is now begining to manifest itslef in positive trading.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
Best Day Yet Dissapointed
Opening balance £1112
Closing balance £1305
Day's profit £195
My actual figure was spot on £200 but I incurred £5 overnight interest charges for holding open positions over the weekend.
There's no doubt I'm heading in the right direction, I'm learning discipline having lost so much of my account in my early trading days with stupid mistakes and it's making me ultra cautious.
My disspointment stems from not letting a trade ride, I'll expand.
From being happy with shorting the market at 5505 at £10 a point and having the balls to watch it climb to 5545 I experienced a little nervousness which I wrote about in my previous post. I've been trading pretty well since I started less than a month ago but have ruined my progress with a handful of reckless trades.
Upon further consideration I became uncomfortable with the potential loss of 40% of my account so as the markets opened last night at 11pm I watched intently. Friday's close at 5520 soon run up to 5530, albeit breifly so I made a mental note to reduce my position at the earliest opportunity. By 2.30 am the index had fallen to my entry level and even though I was being penalised 3 points on the spread I bought back half my stake.
I was now trading at £5 per point and knew I could sleep comfortably with no great damage should the price rise. Long story short if I had let my trade run at the priginal £10 I was spot on and would have made £650 today. The fear of losing my account was greater than the 'fear' of making less than I had hoped for and I gave in to that fear.
I took profits early too, I could have let my £5 a point run and made £325. Instead I made a handful of trades and pinched £200. That's the reason I'm so dissapointed. All the patience I had shown in holding my position when it was against me should have been rewarded with a big win today.
That it didn't shows me how much damage my early losses have exacted on me. Of course I'm delighted to have made a couple of hundred pounds but I have a big regret I lost courage in my beliefs. All the signs pointed to a falling index that I had waited patiently and lost a lot of money on these last couple of weeks and when it finally came I lost my nerve.
On the plus side I made £200 and I'm inching closer to getting my original stake money back and to this weeks target of reaching £1500.
I still believe I'm most comfortable scalping but this really was a great trading opportunity and one I spurned.
Lesson duly noted.
Closing balance £1305
Day's profit £195
My actual figure was spot on £200 but I incurred £5 overnight interest charges for holding open positions over the weekend.
There's no doubt I'm heading in the right direction, I'm learning discipline having lost so much of my account in my early trading days with stupid mistakes and it's making me ultra cautious.
My disspointment stems from not letting a trade ride, I'll expand.
From being happy with shorting the market at 5505 at £10 a point and having the balls to watch it climb to 5545 I experienced a little nervousness which I wrote about in my previous post. I've been trading pretty well since I started less than a month ago but have ruined my progress with a handful of reckless trades.
Upon further consideration I became uncomfortable with the potential loss of 40% of my account so as the markets opened last night at 11pm I watched intently. Friday's close at 5520 soon run up to 5530, albeit breifly so I made a mental note to reduce my position at the earliest opportunity. By 2.30 am the index had fallen to my entry level and even though I was being penalised 3 points on the spread I bought back half my stake.
I was now trading at £5 per point and knew I could sleep comfortably with no great damage should the price rise. Long story short if I had let my trade run at the priginal £10 I was spot on and would have made £650 today. The fear of losing my account was greater than the 'fear' of making less than I had hoped for and I gave in to that fear.
I took profits early too, I could have let my £5 a point run and made £325. Instead I made a handful of trades and pinched £200. That's the reason I'm so dissapointed. All the patience I had shown in holding my position when it was against me should have been rewarded with a big win today.
That it didn't shows me how much damage my early losses have exacted on me. Of course I'm delighted to have made a couple of hundred pounds but I have a big regret I lost courage in my beliefs. All the signs pointed to a falling index that I had waited patiently and lost a lot of money on these last couple of weeks and when it finally came I lost my nerve.
On the plus side I made £200 and I'm inching closer to getting my original stake money back and to this weeks target of reaching £1500.
I still believe I'm most comfortable scalping but this really was a great trading opportunity and one I spurned.
Lesson duly noted.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Must be more disciplined
I wrote yesterday about achieving my weeks target and of how good that feeling was.
I have woken today though and I'm not happy.
I have an open position on the FTSE which is £150 down over the weekend. I'm nervous that should a random piece of news break or market sentiment change slightly I could find myself the wrong end of a surge and all the good work of the past week undone.
So I;m posting to remind myself of what I enjoy and what I need to do.
I'm a scalper.
I'm uncomfortable leaving positions open overnight, so I must close my positions at the end of trading every day.
If I were to continue to make £60 a day it would pay my mortgage, not bad for doing something I enjoy. I have got sucked into trying to make big money too soon. My account doesn't have the margin for a 50 point swing so I must play lower pound per point and be slow and steady.
I have woken today though and I'm not happy.
I have an open position on the FTSE which is £150 down over the weekend. I'm nervous that should a random piece of news break or market sentiment change slightly I could find myself the wrong end of a surge and all the good work of the past week undone.
So I;m posting to remind myself of what I enjoy and what I need to do.
I'm a scalper.
I'm uncomfortable leaving positions open overnight, so I must close my positions at the end of trading every day.
If I were to continue to make £60 a day it would pay my mortgage, not bad for doing something I enjoy. I have got sucked into trying to make big money too soon. My account doesn't have the margin for a 50 point swing so I must play lower pound per point and be slow and steady.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Target achieved
Opening balance £542
Closing balance £611
Day's profit £69
Just over a week ago I sat at my laptop humbled and feeling frustrated having made two stupid trades that wiped out the majority of my account. Frustrated because I'd been making the same mistakes over and over.
I know I can crack this. I'm bold but I'm not a gambler. I will master this market sensibly enough to earn a living.
Therefore it's a good feeling knowing I set myself a sensible target and achieved it. Just over a week ago I had £289 in my account, today that stands at £611, my target for the week met.
When I sat in on my first seminar I was told that one of the main reasons people fail is under capitalisation. The minimum recommended budget for opening an account should be £2000. I didn't really understand why at the time but now I do.
The cash balance is there, not to max out on any one trade but to act as a buffer when you take a position. It's nigh on impossible to do anything other than micro scalping when you have no margin. Not every trade you make initially goes the direction you hope, there may be a really obvious entry point but sometimes I've jumped the gun in order to 'get in early'. Knowing when to enter a trade is something I am picking up fast and will need to refine ongoing. It's better to take a few points less and be as sure as you can than try to be clever and be too early.
Having a margin forgives me this missjudgement,. I have had to close a few trades that have hurt due to lack of margin only to see them turn the way I planned shortly afterwards.
So I have added another £500 to my account which will allow me to watch and play the 5, 15 and 30 minute candles and allow me to trade without the fear if imminent margining out. I know I said I was a scalper and it's true, that's the method of trading that suits my character best but I need to sometimes play a little longer.
I have taken a short on the market earlier today at 5505, it's currently 15 points higher but I now have a margin to let the trade ride. Also it means I don't have to sit scalping for hours watching every minute candle.
It looks as though we're coming to the end of the current bull run and I'm in a reasonable position to surf the index as she slides to 5200 over the coming weeks. If there are a few brave souls who drive this upward I have the margin to wait.
It also means I can devote more time to my work next week which I have neglected al ittle and needs me.
My plan for next week is to leave the short in place, if it turns against me for the week I shall trade a couple of hours a day on retracements and top up my cash balance. If it goes my way I will add to it and trail a stop loss to lock in profits.
To recap my initial investment in trading is £2000
And my current cash balance is £1112.
I'm £323 better off than this time last week having more than doubled the £289.
I've been a fool, made some stupid decisions which is why I funded the account in dribs and drabs, hopefully I will not make the obvious mistakes again. Now though, after the confidence of trading sensibly and profitably the whole week it's time to have a go. 10 points a day at £10 a point is £100 per day.
I'd be disappointed if I don't have my £1500 by this time next week.
Closing balance £611
Day's profit £69
Just over a week ago I sat at my laptop humbled and feeling frustrated having made two stupid trades that wiped out the majority of my account. Frustrated because I'd been making the same mistakes over and over.
I know I can crack this. I'm bold but I'm not a gambler. I will master this market sensibly enough to earn a living.
Therefore it's a good feeling knowing I set myself a sensible target and achieved it. Just over a week ago I had £289 in my account, today that stands at £611, my target for the week met.
When I sat in on my first seminar I was told that one of the main reasons people fail is under capitalisation. The minimum recommended budget for opening an account should be £2000. I didn't really understand why at the time but now I do.
The cash balance is there, not to max out on any one trade but to act as a buffer when you take a position. It's nigh on impossible to do anything other than micro scalping when you have no margin. Not every trade you make initially goes the direction you hope, there may be a really obvious entry point but sometimes I've jumped the gun in order to 'get in early'. Knowing when to enter a trade is something I am picking up fast and will need to refine ongoing. It's better to take a few points less and be as sure as you can than try to be clever and be too early.
Having a margin forgives me this missjudgement,. I have had to close a few trades that have hurt due to lack of margin only to see them turn the way I planned shortly afterwards.
So I have added another £500 to my account which will allow me to watch and play the 5, 15 and 30 minute candles and allow me to trade without the fear if imminent margining out. I know I said I was a scalper and it's true, that's the method of trading that suits my character best but I need to sometimes play a little longer.
I have taken a short on the market earlier today at 5505, it's currently 15 points higher but I now have a margin to let the trade ride. Also it means I don't have to sit scalping for hours watching every minute candle.
It looks as though we're coming to the end of the current bull run and I'm in a reasonable position to surf the index as she slides to 5200 over the coming weeks. If there are a few brave souls who drive this upward I have the margin to wait.
It also means I can devote more time to my work next week which I have neglected al ittle and needs me.
My plan for next week is to leave the short in place, if it turns against me for the week I shall trade a couple of hours a day on retracements and top up my cash balance. If it goes my way I will add to it and trail a stop loss to lock in profits.
To recap my initial investment in trading is £2000
And my current cash balance is £1112.
I'm £323 better off than this time last week having more than doubled the £289.
I've been a fool, made some stupid decisions which is why I funded the account in dribs and drabs, hopefully I will not make the obvious mistakes again. Now though, after the confidence of trading sensibly and profitably the whole week it's time to have a go. 10 points a day at £10 a point is £100 per day.
I'd be disappointed if I don't have my £1500 by this time next week.
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Lucky & a very good day
I went to bed hoping for a correction in the index as I was £163 down when I my head hit the pillow, fortunately things went my way and I opened my account to see I was a mere £30 off, I gratefully took the gift.
I traded succesfully and cautiously off the back of this stroke of good fortune.
Opening balance £422
Closing balance £543
Day's profit £121
Technically my cash balance (had I realised my loss on the open trade) was £260 last night so today was a super day.
I was disciplined and had the confidence to raise my pound per point when the move was happening, at one stage £10 a point.
I am almost at thr target I set myself this time last week which was to end the week with a balance of £600. Considering I was at £289 that would be sensible progress.
Tomorrow calls for more caution, discipline and patience. How my emotions swing in a day is incredible, I was in despair yesterday yet only 24 hours later I feel good.
Most of all I have now posted a profit and shown discipline in four out of the last five days, that more than the money is the really pleasing aspect.
Must finish the week off the same way I began it, I'd like to get my trading completed early so I can enjoy the day and to hell with what the index does tghe rest of the day. Whether it's 6000 or 5000 I don't care. I'm a scalper. That's what I do.
I traded succesfully and cautiously off the back of this stroke of good fortune.
Opening balance £422
Closing balance £543
Day's profit £121
Technically my cash balance (had I realised my loss on the open trade) was £260 last night so today was a super day.
I was disciplined and had the confidence to raise my pound per point when the move was happening, at one stage £10 a point.
I am almost at thr target I set myself this time last week which was to end the week with a balance of £600. Considering I was at £289 that would be sensible progress.
Tomorrow calls for more caution, discipline and patience. How my emotions swing in a day is incredible, I was in despair yesterday yet only 24 hours later I feel good.
Most of all I have now posted a profit and shown discipline in four out of the last five days, that more than the money is the really pleasing aspect.
Must finish the week off the same way I began it, I'd like to get my trading completed early so I can enjoy the day and to hell with what the index does tghe rest of the day. Whether it's 6000 or 5000 I don't care. I'm a scalper. That's what I do.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
A Bad Day
Opening balance £452
Closing balance £422
Trading loss £30
This only tells half the story. I have an open position short at 5581, currently the index is at 5631 so I'm technically a further £150 worse off.
How did I let this happen when I have been so disciplined?
I didn't even look at the index until 9.30am. Knowing I have made errors previously by jumping into trades before fully awake I made a cup of tea, popped Bloomberg on TV and then observed the live charts for 10 minutes.
Although the trend was up I noticed regular retracements yet I was too eager to trade and perhaps a little trigger happy when entering this trade. Now, I have to confess to working form home this morning and so my attention was divided between trading and fielding phone calls and emails. Before I knew I was 10 points adrift, then 12 and finally 15. I didn't act quickly enough in closing a losing trade. I worked so diligently yesterday to collect £60 that I didn't want to give up £30 in my first trade (£3 a point).
Long story short I'm 50 points away from my entry level in a bullish market. I did have an opportunity to close when at one stage it dropped to within 12 points but I foolishly turned the chance down.
I have made a number of other trades, popping £4 a point on retracements and at one stage playing the dow (and I said I would NEVER do that) which have resulted in my £30 actual loss as things stand.
So, more lessons to be learned, not that I haven't sat this class before! I have a sign on my kitchen wall reminding to always play with a 10 point stop loss.
So I get what I deserve which is terribly disappointing after 3 consecutive positive, disciplined days.
Ultimately I think I have to realise I can't work and trade at the same time as I do neither justice. All I can hope for now is the index falls away overnight and/or opens down tomorrow as without closing my position I cannot scalp.
Idiot signing off.
Closing balance £422
Trading loss £30
This only tells half the story. I have an open position short at 5581, currently the index is at 5631 so I'm technically a further £150 worse off.
How did I let this happen when I have been so disciplined?
I didn't even look at the index until 9.30am. Knowing I have made errors previously by jumping into trades before fully awake I made a cup of tea, popped Bloomberg on TV and then observed the live charts for 10 minutes.
Although the trend was up I noticed regular retracements yet I was too eager to trade and perhaps a little trigger happy when entering this trade. Now, I have to confess to working form home this morning and so my attention was divided between trading and fielding phone calls and emails. Before I knew I was 10 points adrift, then 12 and finally 15. I didn't act quickly enough in closing a losing trade. I worked so diligently yesterday to collect £60 that I didn't want to give up £30 in my first trade (£3 a point).
Long story short I'm 50 points away from my entry level in a bullish market. I did have an opportunity to close when at one stage it dropped to within 12 points but I foolishly turned the chance down.
I have made a number of other trades, popping £4 a point on retracements and at one stage playing the dow (and I said I would NEVER do that) which have resulted in my £30 actual loss as things stand.
So, more lessons to be learned, not that I haven't sat this class before! I have a sign on my kitchen wall reminding to always play with a 10 point stop loss.
So I get what I deserve which is terribly disappointing after 3 consecutive positive, disciplined days.
Ultimately I think I have to realise I can't work and trade at the same time as I do neither justice. All I can hope for now is the index falls away overnight and/or opens down tomorrow as without closing my position I cannot scalp.
Idiot signing off.
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Slow & Steady
I'm pleased to report another good day of discipline trading. All achieved by simple scalping, taking the crumbs and not being greedy. I need to post 3 more days of profits to prove I can trade profitably.
Opening balance £391
Closing balance £452
Trading profit £61
Opening balance £391
Closing balance £452
Trading profit £61
Monday, 18 June 2012
A Very Disciplined Day
Scalp.
Scalp.
Scalp.
Opening balance £341
Closing balance £392
Day's profit £51
Scalp.
Scalp.
Opening balance £341
Closing balance £392
Day's profit £51
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Thoughts on the week ahead
The outcome of today's election in Greece is huge for the market.
I'm certain that should it go the anticipated route and Greece elect to stay in the EU we will see s huge overeaction on the FTSE.
I'll tune in to my account tonight when the market opens at 11pm to see the effect it has. My gut feeling (which has already got me into more than enough trouble when trading) is that there will be an overreaction and then a correction. I'm tempted to wait for the 2nd correction and then go short, even though there will be a 6 point margin.
Back to reality as there's no way I'm going to risk anything on this.
Due to my erratic trading last week and the wiping out of 70% of my account balance I'm forced to trade sensibly which is a good thing. Having the benefit of hindsight I can see had I gone with the trend from early June I could have had a 300 point gain simply for executing a trade and letting it run. One day I will be able to play that way, for now though I am posting to remind myself of my trading strategy for the week ahead.
Be very happy to scalp a few points at a time maybe 3 or 4 trades daily. Play with a stop loss of 6 points and risk no more than around 5% of my account in one trade. One single disastrous trade last week took more than 40% of my account in the blink of an eye. Lesson noted and duly learned.
The target this week is to be sensible and scalp a few points at a time and to close every day with an improved account balance.
I'm opening with £340 so anywhere around £600+ by Friday and I'll be pleased. That will show I have heeded the expensive lessons thus far, a dose of humility and reality was administered, medicine taken thank you.
I'm looking forward to posting tomorrow!
I'm certain that should it go the anticipated route and Greece elect to stay in the EU we will see s huge overeaction on the FTSE.
I'll tune in to my account tonight when the market opens at 11pm to see the effect it has. My gut feeling (which has already got me into more than enough trouble when trading) is that there will be an overreaction and then a correction. I'm tempted to wait for the 2nd correction and then go short, even though there will be a 6 point margin.
Back to reality as there's no way I'm going to risk anything on this.
Due to my erratic trading last week and the wiping out of 70% of my account balance I'm forced to trade sensibly which is a good thing. Having the benefit of hindsight I can see had I gone with the trend from early June I could have had a 300 point gain simply for executing a trade and letting it run. One day I will be able to play that way, for now though I am posting to remind myself of my trading strategy for the week ahead.
Be very happy to scalp a few points at a time maybe 3 or 4 trades daily. Play with a stop loss of 6 points and risk no more than around 5% of my account in one trade. One single disastrous trade last week took more than 40% of my account in the blink of an eye. Lesson noted and duly learned.
The target this week is to be sensible and scalp a few points at a time and to close every day with an improved account balance.
I'm opening with £340 so anywhere around £600+ by Friday and I'll be pleased. That will show I have heeded the expensive lessons thus far, a dose of humility and reality was administered, medicine taken thank you.
I'm looking forward to posting tomorrow!
Friday, 15 June 2012
The Long Way Back
This post comes to you at 10.30am, my day's trading is finished.
Opening balance: £289
Closing balance £341
Profit £52
Let's work our way slowly and steadily, take profit when it offers itself and don't be afraid to take an early profit.
I guess my plan from last week was a good one after all. I have another opportunity next week to stick to it.
Opening balance: £289
Closing balance £341
Profit £52
Let's work our way slowly and steadily, take profit when it offers itself and don't be afraid to take an early profit.
I guess my plan from last week was a good one after all. I have another opportunity next week to stick to it.
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Don't play the Dow
Today I blew £700 in less than half an hour.
Reckless wanker.
Two trades got away from me, one went short 100+ points in less than a two minutes when I was long (£4 a point) and I was unable to close the trade, it was that fast.
On the bright side I am not going to further fund my account, I have just under £300 to play with and so I will be forced to play my original game plan.
It's glaringly obvious I do not possess the knowledge (if I did I would never play the dow) nor the neccessary temperament to warrant further funding at this stage.
I will rebuild my account to the original £1500 value but it will have to be done the way I planned originally. I've neglected my day job with this obsession about trading but today has been cathartic. I love what I do and tomorrow I shall go into my office with renewed enthusiasm and earn the money back the way I know how.
My trading target tomorrow is simply to have more money in the account than when I start, even if that's £10. Now, that's sensible. I shall be leaving for my office at 9am whether a trade comes my way or not.
Ps, I allocated a budget to the learn and play with and that's all I'm putting in. I can afford to lose the money but I strongly advise anyone new to only play with money you can afford to lose. This is not a get rich quick scheme, it requires knowledge, a familiarisation period and iron discipline and total focus. Sadly I am aware of my shortcomings and therefore deserve what happened today.
Reckless wanker.
Two trades got away from me, one went short 100+ points in less than a two minutes when I was long (£4 a point) and I was unable to close the trade, it was that fast.
On the bright side I am not going to further fund my account, I have just under £300 to play with and so I will be forced to play my original game plan.
It's glaringly obvious I do not possess the knowledge (if I did I would never play the dow) nor the neccessary temperament to warrant further funding at this stage.
I will rebuild my account to the original £1500 value but it will have to be done the way I planned originally. I've neglected my day job with this obsession about trading but today has been cathartic. I love what I do and tomorrow I shall go into my office with renewed enthusiasm and earn the money back the way I know how.
My trading target tomorrow is simply to have more money in the account than when I start, even if that's £10. Now, that's sensible. I shall be leaving for my office at 9am whether a trade comes my way or not.
Ps, I allocated a budget to the learn and play with and that's all I'm putting in. I can afford to lose the money but I strongly advise anyone new to only play with money you can afford to lose. This is not a get rich quick scheme, it requires knowledge, a familiarisation period and iron discipline and total focus. Sadly I am aware of my shortcomings and therefore deserve what happened today.
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
I broke my promise!
Instead of being disciplined, measured, defensive, thoughtful, analytic (I do like the technical side to charting) I just went and traded for the day, without a clear plan and with nothing more than hope.
How is it I make a plan Friday, stick to it and sycceed both Friday and Monday and then let it all go? It's a simple answer, the thrill of entering a trade, pitting myself against the market.
I am in love with this.
Did I make any money today? No. Did I make silly mistakes? You bet.
I'm comfortable trading from home, the atmosphere is all of my choosing, no interrutions and much peace. I did okay until I went to the office where I made mistake after mistake. I simply cannot trade in that awful environment. Too many interruptions, too much noise and I'm too focused on my day job to give myself the best chance of trading.
I get into a groove after an hour of studying price movement. I draw trend lines, spot new trends developing, even price in one direction that deviates slightly from a previous direction is a new trend and I mark it on the chart.
To do this succesfully and to benefit from it though I need total concentration and peace. I entered into a short when I wasn't ready, madly following the shouting from the guy who 'trades' in the next office telling me it's going down and I should get in.
I did of course right at the very bottom and without focussing fully and at £5 a point. An hour later and the index has soared 60 points and I'm runing the expensive lesson (yet again) that I should be heeding.
DON'T TRADE FROM MY OFFICE. ONLY TRADE FROM HOME.
I left my office feeling stupid and raced home to open my computer and endeavour to repair the damage. I turned on the Wall Street chart and could see the FTSE moving in unison (it was after 5pm and the FTSE was closed) so I grabbed an opportunity to offset my losses, hedge my bets.
If the Dow was heating up I would go long and my position should remain equal. Thankfully and with great relief the Dow dropped and as it did so my open position ont FTSE. As I write my 'loss' as it stands is in double digit territory and I plan to keep an eye on it when Asia opens. Of course as the Dow was dropping I took advantage of shorting it too and made £88 in a trade to contribute to my overall position.
I have funded my account with another £500, not because I am losing badly (I am down) but to cover a margin. I will post figures tomorrow of what I have funded and my current cash total. I think that's a good format for judging my efforts. I mean I do enjoy this but really, unless I;m making money I can think of better ways of spending my time. Naturally I'm fiercely determined and resolute about making this a part of my life and income.
I managed to get everything done I needed to in the office today and so I'm in a good postion to work all day from home tomorrow. I will put my 10 points a day challenge on hold for now and simply go into tomorrow with a goal of scalping, albeit with a higher points tally than I would normally. My margin now allows me to do this. If I'm using a high £ per point then I must not enter trades with any element of doubt, I can only take a trade if I'm comfortable it has a few quick points and then out. Temper greed and be realistic.
Til tomorrow.
How is it I make a plan Friday, stick to it and sycceed both Friday and Monday and then let it all go? It's a simple answer, the thrill of entering a trade, pitting myself against the market.
I am in love with this.
Did I make any money today? No. Did I make silly mistakes? You bet.
I'm comfortable trading from home, the atmosphere is all of my choosing, no interrutions and much peace. I did okay until I went to the office where I made mistake after mistake. I simply cannot trade in that awful environment. Too many interruptions, too much noise and I'm too focused on my day job to give myself the best chance of trading.
I get into a groove after an hour of studying price movement. I draw trend lines, spot new trends developing, even price in one direction that deviates slightly from a previous direction is a new trend and I mark it on the chart.
To do this succesfully and to benefit from it though I need total concentration and peace. I entered into a short when I wasn't ready, madly following the shouting from the guy who 'trades' in the next office telling me it's going down and I should get in.
I did of course right at the very bottom and without focussing fully and at £5 a point. An hour later and the index has soared 60 points and I'm runing the expensive lesson (yet again) that I should be heeding.
DON'T TRADE FROM MY OFFICE. ONLY TRADE FROM HOME.
I left my office feeling stupid and raced home to open my computer and endeavour to repair the damage. I turned on the Wall Street chart and could see the FTSE moving in unison (it was after 5pm and the FTSE was closed) so I grabbed an opportunity to offset my losses, hedge my bets.
If the Dow was heating up I would go long and my position should remain equal. Thankfully and with great relief the Dow dropped and as it did so my open position ont FTSE. As I write my 'loss' as it stands is in double digit territory and I plan to keep an eye on it when Asia opens. Of course as the Dow was dropping I took advantage of shorting it too and made £88 in a trade to contribute to my overall position.
I have funded my account with another £500, not because I am losing badly (I am down) but to cover a margin. I will post figures tomorrow of what I have funded and my current cash total. I think that's a good format for judging my efforts. I mean I do enjoy this but really, unless I;m making money I can think of better ways of spending my time. Naturally I'm fiercely determined and resolute about making this a part of my life and income.
I managed to get everything done I needed to in the office today and so I'm in a good postion to work all day from home tomorrow. I will put my 10 points a day challenge on hold for now and simply go into tomorrow with a goal of scalping, albeit with a higher points tally than I would normally. My margin now allows me to do this. If I'm using a high £ per point then I must not enter trades with any element of doubt, I can only take a trade if I'm comfortable it has a few quick points and then out. Temper greed and be realistic.
Til tomorrow.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
So much for caution!
Unbelievable day.
I waited patiently for my first trade, more than an hour then promptly broke my 5 points scalping stop loss and ended margining out for 25 points at £12 each, a loss of almost £300.
Rather than panic I picked up the baton from yesterday and took it as a challenge to rise to. Heroicly I fought my way back and won the money and a little extra by 1pm.
Wheras yesterday I was frozen when a trade presented itself, today my early losing position forced me into making the trades. Having a little cash in my account to play with helps enormously and I thoroughly enjoyed trading.
I really love trading.
So, my disciplined approach had to be rethought and I 'traded' plan A for plan B.
As I was forced into trades I had my trading cap on (not my disciplined scalping one) and foolishly entered into a short position on The Dow index 15 minutes before closing bell and I'm the wrong side of quite a points tally. I have a short position on the FTSE too.
I loved today, I'm in the very early stages of learning about me and the way I trade which is why I've only popped £1000 into the account.
Tomorrow I shall revert to plan A and trade with discipline and if the first trade gets away from me it's closed out at a deficit of 5 points.
I promise :)
I waited patiently for my first trade, more than an hour then promptly broke my 5 points scalping stop loss and ended margining out for 25 points at £12 each, a loss of almost £300.
Rather than panic I picked up the baton from yesterday and took it as a challenge to rise to. Heroicly I fought my way back and won the money and a little extra by 1pm.
Wheras yesterday I was frozen when a trade presented itself, today my early losing position forced me into making the trades. Having a little cash in my account to play with helps enormously and I thoroughly enjoyed trading.
I really love trading.
So, my disciplined approach had to be rethought and I 'traded' plan A for plan B.
As I was forced into trades I had my trading cap on (not my disciplined scalping one) and foolishly entered into a short position on The Dow index 15 minutes before closing bell and I'm the wrong side of quite a points tally. I have a short position on the FTSE too.
I loved today, I'm in the very early stages of learning about me and the way I trade which is why I've only popped £1000 into the account.
Tomorrow I shall revert to plan A and trade with discipline and if the first trade gets away from me it's closed out at a deficit of 5 points.
I promise :)
Monday, 11 June 2012
Another Disciplined Day
I won 7 points today.
It would have been the full 10 had I not made a schoolboy error of judgement. I was so excited about trading I struggled to sleep, eventually succumbing to tiredness at 4am. I awoke with a shock at 7.55am and immediately jumped up and turned my computer on.
Before I was even half awake or had taken even my first slurp of coffee (I hadn't even put the kettle on) I jumped into a sell off on the opening bell in a lazy attempt to win a few easy points. There are no easy points, I can tell you that, you earn every damn one.
Before I could get out 6 points slipped through my fingers (at £12 a point) and I felt so dissapointed with myself.
Rather than dwell on it I took it as a lesson and also as a challenge, my day would have to be worth 16 points. It became obvious pretty soon that the day was obviously on a slide after a 100 point pre-market leap. Even though I could have set up a trade with a 20 point stop loss (to allow for retracements) and let it run all day and collected 50 points I decided to trade ultra defensively. That's my style and that's how I will trade in the future.
I was so cautious I missed a couple of obvious entry point screaming at me to make the trade. I resisted which in a way is no bad thing. I have an iron discipline and a daily target. At some stage in the future I will feel more comfortable and less reticent to wait but the order of the day (and the week) is patience and discipline. There will always be another opportunity, another day to jump in and collect. This week is ALL about proving to myself I have the iron discipline required to be succesful trading.
Ultimately I made four successful trades after my mishap yielding points in this order; 3,4,1 and 5.
I actually sat here until gone midday to earn a net 2 points and turned my computer off and went to work happy. At least my day will be a positive one, I reasoned. I returned home around 4pm giving myself a good half hour of checking the market. if there was an opportunity I would take it, if not I'd still be making a step in the positive direction.
Again I missed an obvious entrypoint and this one cost me 20 points yet I was still happy to win 5 more points and close trading today 7 to the good or in monetary terms around £80 better off.
I will continue to trade defensively and ultra catiously as I'm determined to achieve my goal this week. I read all about discipline being such an important attribute when trading, I actually think it's 90% of what you need. anyone can learn to read candles or draw trend lines (or any other technical analysis) but it's what you do with your tools that counts not the fact you have them in your toolbox.
Overall a succesful day. More of the same is hoped for and expected tomorrow. (Note to self, alarm set for 7.30).
It would have been the full 10 had I not made a schoolboy error of judgement. I was so excited about trading I struggled to sleep, eventually succumbing to tiredness at 4am. I awoke with a shock at 7.55am and immediately jumped up and turned my computer on.
Before I was even half awake or had taken even my first slurp of coffee (I hadn't even put the kettle on) I jumped into a sell off on the opening bell in a lazy attempt to win a few easy points. There are no easy points, I can tell you that, you earn every damn one.
Before I could get out 6 points slipped through my fingers (at £12 a point) and I felt so dissapointed with myself.
Rather than dwell on it I took it as a lesson and also as a challenge, my day would have to be worth 16 points. It became obvious pretty soon that the day was obviously on a slide after a 100 point pre-market leap. Even though I could have set up a trade with a 20 point stop loss (to allow for retracements) and let it run all day and collected 50 points I decided to trade ultra defensively. That's my style and that's how I will trade in the future.
I was so cautious I missed a couple of obvious entry point screaming at me to make the trade. I resisted which in a way is no bad thing. I have an iron discipline and a daily target. At some stage in the future I will feel more comfortable and less reticent to wait but the order of the day (and the week) is patience and discipline. There will always be another opportunity, another day to jump in and collect. This week is ALL about proving to myself I have the iron discipline required to be succesful trading.
Ultimately I made four successful trades after my mishap yielding points in this order; 3,4,1 and 5.
I actually sat here until gone midday to earn a net 2 points and turned my computer off and went to work happy. At least my day will be a positive one, I reasoned. I returned home around 4pm giving myself a good half hour of checking the market. if there was an opportunity I would take it, if not I'd still be making a step in the positive direction.
Again I missed an obvious entrypoint and this one cost me 20 points yet I was still happy to win 5 more points and close trading today 7 to the good or in monetary terms around £80 better off.
I will continue to trade defensively and ultra catiously as I'm determined to achieve my goal this week. I read all about discipline being such an important attribute when trading, I actually think it's 90% of what you need. anyone can learn to read candles or draw trend lines (or any other technical analysis) but it's what you do with your tools that counts not the fact you have them in your toolbox.
Overall a succesful day. More of the same is hoped for and expected tomorrow. (Note to self, alarm set for 7.30).
Sunday, 10 June 2012
This Week's Target
I'm posting this on Sunday evening around 10pm and I'm excited about the week ahead.
This coming week is so important. If I can stick to my plan and succeed for the next 5 days it will be proof enough that I can make money at this.
Quite simply I plan to scalp 10 points a day by playing rapier like thrusts, in and out with the prize being 3 points each time. Minimum time for maximum reward.
I execute my trade and keep my finger poised on the button to close out. I envisage most trades being less than a minute. I was fortunate Friday to catch the end of a downtrend and picked up all 10 points in one trade. If that happens great but I'm expecting to collect my total on three or four trades.
Once I have my 10 points trading's over for the day. I'm trading from home when the markets open, Coffee and Bloomberg from 7.30 and my platform open.
If I can pull this off it's huge. The implications are life changing.
This coming week is so important. If I can stick to my plan and succeed for the next 5 days it will be proof enough that I can make money at this.
Quite simply I plan to scalp 10 points a day by playing rapier like thrusts, in and out with the prize being 3 points each time. Minimum time for maximum reward.
I execute my trade and keep my finger poised on the button to close out. I envisage most trades being less than a minute. I was fortunate Friday to catch the end of a downtrend and picked up all 10 points in one trade. If that happens great but I'm expecting to collect my total on three or four trades.
Once I have my 10 points trading's over for the day. I'm trading from home when the markets open, Coffee and Bloomberg from 7.30 and my platform open.
If I can pull this off it's huge. The implications are life changing.
Friday, 8 June 2012
A Good Day
I've funded my account to enable me to play at £10 a point.
I've read extensively, watched youtube trading videos til the wee small hours of the morning and played many different trading styles over the last two weeks.
My trading style is to read candles and draw trend lines to guide me, that's it. Price action. I'm a firm believer as a speculator that the price is all I need to know, to observe and then react to. I have to be aware of news events that will affect the market however I'm not an investor, I'm a scalper. For now.
I know my character, what excites me, enthralls me, what I'm most comfortable with and that's siezing an opportunity the market gives me.
My target today was 10 points.
That's it.
I had bloomberg on at 7.30am and my account was open for trading at 8am. I know I have all day to make the points so whatever time they come is irrelevant and whether they arrive in one lot of 10 or in three smash and grab raids makes not a jot of difference.
I missed an obvious downward trend for the first half hour but my impetuosity has let me down in the past and I reasoned that even if I miss 30 points (which I did) Ionly need 10 and another opportunity will present itself.
My patience was rewarded as when I was sure the trend was continuing I entered a trade 'short' (immediately losing 5 points on a retrace) and closed out a few minutes later with all 10 points.
9.15 and my day's trading complete. What a lovely feeling.
I was tempted around 4pm to check the state of play and I could see another obvious opportunity to pick a few points, experience however told me that more important than winning a few extra pounds was the discipline in keeping to my trading strategy.
Had I played and lost the damage would have been far greater than the potential of making a succesful trade.
That shows me I am capable of maintaining absolute discipline (I know that already as I have proved in every area of my life) when trading and that will be a huge asset in my trading future.
I can enjoy the weekend knowing I had a plan and adhered to it.
I'm excited about Monday when I shall be playing for another 10 points although my account balance now allows me £12 a point. I know I won't always open with winning trades and it will put me under pressure but if i stick to my strategy, play defensively, eliminate greed and continue to educate myself I am increasing the odds of becoming succesful.
Final thought: It's not the number of points that matter so much as the value per point. If I was playing £2000 a point I'd have made £20'000 this morning before breakfast.
I've read extensively, watched youtube trading videos til the wee small hours of the morning and played many different trading styles over the last two weeks.
My trading style is to read candles and draw trend lines to guide me, that's it. Price action. I'm a firm believer as a speculator that the price is all I need to know, to observe and then react to. I have to be aware of news events that will affect the market however I'm not an investor, I'm a scalper. For now.
I know my character, what excites me, enthralls me, what I'm most comfortable with and that's siezing an opportunity the market gives me.
My target today was 10 points.
That's it.
I had bloomberg on at 7.30am and my account was open for trading at 8am. I know I have all day to make the points so whatever time they come is irrelevant and whether they arrive in one lot of 10 or in three smash and grab raids makes not a jot of difference.
I missed an obvious downward trend for the first half hour but my impetuosity has let me down in the past and I reasoned that even if I miss 30 points (which I did) Ionly need 10 and another opportunity will present itself.
My patience was rewarded as when I was sure the trend was continuing I entered a trade 'short' (immediately losing 5 points on a retrace) and closed out a few minutes later with all 10 points.
9.15 and my day's trading complete. What a lovely feeling.
I was tempted around 4pm to check the state of play and I could see another obvious opportunity to pick a few points, experience however told me that more important than winning a few extra pounds was the discipline in keeping to my trading strategy.
Had I played and lost the damage would have been far greater than the potential of making a succesful trade.
That shows me I am capable of maintaining absolute discipline (I know that already as I have proved in every area of my life) when trading and that will be a huge asset in my trading future.
I can enjoy the weekend knowing I had a plan and adhered to it.
I'm excited about Monday when I shall be playing for another 10 points although my account balance now allows me £12 a point. I know I won't always open with winning trades and it will put me under pressure but if i stick to my strategy, play defensively, eliminate greed and continue to educate myself I am increasing the odds of becoming succesful.
Final thought: It's not the number of points that matter so much as the value per point. If I was playing £2000 a point I'd have made £20'000 this morning before breakfast.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Today's Mistakes
Ignoring price action.
Going against the trend and margining out.
Unforgivably repeating above mistake immediately, next trade.
Overtrading.
I will only be succesful if I;
a) Do what the price action is telling me to do.
b) Trade for just an hour or two a day.
c) Play with stop losses ALWAYS.
I had a good session yesterday, playing the Dow all day at home. I made 25 succesful trades from 30. Unfortunately there were two big losing trades that negated all the studious and impressive scalping of the other 25 trades.
Truthfully I enjoy this, I really do think with a decent stake I will play defensively and with caution. The stakes need to be a reasonable size to focus me, I just take liberties I wouldn't ordinarily do becuase of the small point position I take (£1-£2).
Of course I'll know when I'm ready to fund the account and that time is nowhere near. It's one thing knowing what to do and quite another doing so. I have learned in the brief time I've been 'playing' the game that I am my worst enemy.
Going against the trend and margining out.
Unforgivably repeating above mistake immediately, next trade.
Overtrading.
I will only be succesful if I;
a) Do what the price action is telling me to do.
b) Trade for just an hour or two a day.
c) Play with stop losses ALWAYS.
I had a good session yesterday, playing the Dow all day at home. I made 25 succesful trades from 30. Unfortunately there were two big losing trades that negated all the studious and impressive scalping of the other 25 trades.
Truthfully I enjoy this, I really do think with a decent stake I will play defensively and with caution. The stakes need to be a reasonable size to focus me, I just take liberties I wouldn't ordinarily do becuase of the small point position I take (£1-£2).
Of course I'll know when I'm ready to fund the account and that time is nowhere near. It's one thing knowing what to do and quite another doing so. I have learned in the brief time I've been 'playing' the game that I am my worst enemy.
Friday, 1 June 2012
What a week
Opening balance £50
Closing balance £42
Day's trading loss £8
Wow, what a way to close a dramatic week.
After a slightly bullish opening the index plunged on the not so good job news from the States. I don't recall the exact metric.,suffice to say points plunged south faster than a lady of the night on double pay.
Just bad news everywhere, yet still dramatic seesawing of prices.
I didn't really play today, just conducted a few 'experiments' to hammer home the theory that guessing is a fools game. I did leave my position open last night and after the LSE closed I hoovered 15 points, interesting food for thought.
A good break now so plenty of time to finish my book 'Reminisces of a stock operator (Jesse Livermore), it's been recommended to me by the Technical Analysist at my spread bet firm and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Fortunately my day job is busy which means I don't have the time to focus on this and because I'm more comfortable as a 'scalper' coming in and out in relatively short term trades I have to keep my eye on the screen at all times so I'm not sure how much trading I will get done next week.
I'm fortunate that I'm earning well and my priority has to be my main job, but I'm determined to find a way of making time during the week for this. Either taking part of every day to trade without interruption or specifically a day during the week. I'm leaning towards taking part of each day to trade, maybe the first couple of hours and if I make my target by 9am then quit.
I'll post again over the weekend with some reminders about what I must do if I am to trade succesfully.
Finally for today I now have a 2nd monitor for my laptop which means I'll be able to trade while keeping an eye on two time frames, say the minute ticker on my laptop and the 15 mins on the 2nd screen. Oh and I also have a mouse so no more 'phantom' trades.
See, I'm learning already!
Closing balance £42
Day's trading loss £8
Wow, what a way to close a dramatic week.
After a slightly bullish opening the index plunged on the not so good job news from the States. I don't recall the exact metric.,suffice to say points plunged south faster than a lady of the night on double pay.
Just bad news everywhere, yet still dramatic seesawing of prices.
I didn't really play today, just conducted a few 'experiments' to hammer home the theory that guessing is a fools game. I did leave my position open last night and after the LSE closed I hoovered 15 points, interesting food for thought.
A good break now so plenty of time to finish my book 'Reminisces of a stock operator (Jesse Livermore), it's been recommended to me by the Technical Analysist at my spread bet firm and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Fortunately my day job is busy which means I don't have the time to focus on this and because I'm more comfortable as a 'scalper' coming in and out in relatively short term trades I have to keep my eye on the screen at all times so I'm not sure how much trading I will get done next week.
I'm fortunate that I'm earning well and my priority has to be my main job, but I'm determined to find a way of making time during the week for this. Either taking part of every day to trade without interruption or specifically a day during the week. I'm leaning towards taking part of each day to trade, maybe the first couple of hours and if I make my target by 9am then quit.
I'll post again over the weekend with some reminders about what I must do if I am to trade succesfully.
Finally for today I now have a 2nd monitor for my laptop which means I'll be able to trade while keeping an eye on two time frames, say the minute ticker on my laptop and the 15 mins on the 2nd screen. Oh and I also have a mouse so no more 'phantom' trades.
See, I'm learning already!
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